So here you go, as promised. I was so gung-ho getting this started this morning, and then I made the mistake of checking into FB first thing when I came down. As usual, something irked me. One of the things I need to strike off my schedule, I think, is the “checking into FB in the morning”. Maybe 4 pm when all of my “first things” have been accomplished would be a better time. Pray for me on this one.
On to the entertaining (I hope) and uplifting and general updating….
Nino has been talking and asking more about spiritual matters these days. The other day he was complaining that at Mass he didn’t see Jesus come down from Heaven. I explained that it’s not something we can see with our eyes. Hah! Try explaining transubstantiation to a 3-year-old. I explained that Jesus comes to us in the Holy Eucharist and that one day soon he’ll be ready to receive Jesus too. Next he asks: “Does He get afraid of the dark in there?” (pointing to my tummy). Had to laugh!!! So inquisitive — love this age. And I did tell you about the “Be strong, Mom” right, when we couldn’t find my eyeglasses? Hilarious.
Yena has been finishing up work on her Math and writing. I’m realizing how distracted she’s been the past year with all her hobbies and interests, and so this year, my focus is to help her with HER focus. She’s doing well so far and went through 4 lessons (!) yesterday, so I know it’s really just sitting and staying on task that’s the problem. She’s kinda made a mess in your room which she promises to clean up. You know how it gets when Nino decides she’s his toy and she has to run and take refuge elsewhere. Her room isn’t ready yet, and probably won’t be until Migi comes back from camp and moves the rest of his stuff to the boys’ room…. which apparently, falls to me to clean and organize since Paco isn’t here. It’s on the list, but not the top of the list unfortunately.
This is quite a new experience — the summer. You know how we never stopped homeschooling when we got back to it, so we’ve been homeschooling straight since 2001, taking breaks only for travel and holidays with the family. I am relishing the newness of it, it’s like a fresh beginning. Especially having just Yena and Nino here, me and dad in the evenings — it brings me back to our time in Texas when it was just us four. There’s dinner prep and dinner and dinner clean-up, and everyone’s here on the first floor, talking and playing while I chop and boil and sauté. I miss those days, but grateful that this is almost like a second chance. It’s the addition of the screen interruptions that’s giving me pause. Yesterday I looked up a recipe, and Dad wrote a brief e-mail before dinner, but it’s like this screen in the middle of the first floor is another person we have to pay attention to, and I know we have/had excellent reasons for installing it here where everyone can see it and use it in full view of everyone else, but at the same time it takes away from the flow of person-to-person interaction. Here we go again, one of those dilemmas that seems so easily solvable at first glance but it will take many a day to come up with adequate answers that satisfy everyone and our particular needs. I am reconsidering Dad’s suggestion from a few months back of “no screen” once he’s home, but we all know how all of us had a hard time sticking to that one, including Dad himself. It’s like me saying a while back, no screen on Sunday, but I readily admit I was also one of the violators. This will take some serious discussion, again. Maybe when Paco gets back.
Moving on to more smile-worthy topics.
The garden — would love to call it potager but I don’t think it’s quite there yet — is going really well. I’ve probably got 15 tomatoes right now on the Green Zebras. The Cherokee Purple is a bit slower but I’m not in a hurry. Cannot wait to sink my teeth into the first one — if I can figure out when it’s supposed to be harvested. Easy enough with the beefsteaks and other cultivars I raised in Texas, they were all red — a Green Zebra won’t ever turn red and I don’t know what shade of yellow I ought to be looking for here. The peppers are bursting with flowers and I think I’ve seen one or two baby fruits — or should I say embryo fruits? The eggplant is also beginning to flower. It’s so gratifying to see huge leaves on it, which I never saw when we had the backyard garden, because of rabbits — or was it deer? Brilliant idea, if I may say so myself, and I’m still heaping on the congratulations everytime I see these veggies which are growing so healthily, unfettered by marauding wildlife. Had I known the difference some light would make I would have had dad install lights in the yard to keep watch like scarecrows at night. Maybe in the future. I’ve got two more giant shrubs in the front I’ll have Paco chop off, in time to add perennials to grow through fall and overwinter. But not before I get some cuttings to root, though I’m still ambivalent about using “hormones” on them. (Know anything about plant hormones? If you do, educate me please.) The shrubs on the right side, if you’re facing the house, are also going, except for the pretty spiraea which badly needs pruning. Beside it will go raspberries and blackberries. Still planning this out as we also want blueberries but those will need a different pH — maybe on the other side of the house, except they might not receive adequate sun. The right side would be a great place to espalier, which means apples or peaches or nectarines, but we need berries more 🙂 . Lastly, I’m planning to remove the creeping evergreen (never figured out what it was, but I don’t care) that’s in front by the lamppost, and replace that whole area with a strawberry patch. If all these things work out all I’ll need is a cottage to replace the house. 😀
I am mightily frustrated that Dad’s vacation time has been mostly used up and that we won’t get to stay long in MI. Was hoping to visit the Shrine, and St. Therese’s, see a Filipino homeschooling family in Flint, explore Frankenmuth… and am seriously bummed about Christmas. But I will not dwell on sad things today, as I have a cake to bake and frost, and spanakopita to find (Costco didn’t have any, and while I could make some, I am out of phyllo). I’ve promised Yena a yellow cake (which shhh, calls for buttermilk, but I’ll use yogurt instead, since it’s what I have) and strawberry buttercream.
Did I ever tell you that Nino broke my cake decorating turntable? He sat on it and tried to spin himself. I got that when you were ~7 and I was just learning to work with fondant and decorate cakes. Fourteen years and 3 more kids later, it’s gone :'( . This kid has broken more kitchen things than all of you guys combined, because he’s got easy access to the island which you didn’t have.
Finally, and I’ll stop here since the to-do-list is waiting, I am recommitting to David Allen’s GTD. I’ve finished Yena and Migi’s curriculum (wahoo!) for 2012. Lots more projects in the wings. I’m torn on whether to use traditional varnish on the piano, after I have it tuned, or milk paint. Will keep you posted.
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